I hiked the Winds last year, Green River Lakes to Big Sandy. I used the OPSak by LokSak, like I do everywhere when I hike. No issues. I never hang food anymore, I just use the OPSaks, and that has never let me down. When in the Weminuche Wilderness (San Juans) I once camped near an area that has tons of rodents running around everywhere. I just set the OPSak on a rock near the area the rodents were running around (because there was nowhere else to put it)and they never touched it. A guy I passed when heading up to that campsite (Eldorado Lake) had said that the rodents had their way with his food the night before when he was camping there, which was not in an OPSak. I have never had an issue with an animal of any kind messing with the OPSaks. Personally, I would just put your food in the OPSak and forget about it. Much easier than lugging around a bear canister. Maybe they work ok for shorter hikes but how are you supposed to fit a weeks worth of food in one of those things?
With that said, I did see a small black bear near Halls Lake. That's about 10,600ft. I always hear the bears typically stay below 9500ft, but even if they don't usually hang out up there, I'm sure they travel over passes and at high elevation to get to different areas. Between Dennis Lake and Halls lake there was TONS of bear crap along the trail.
As far as seeing Rangers goes in the Winds, I saw 2 on my 100 mile trek. One working his way around Peak Lake heading towards Green River Lakes. He had just come down from Knapsack Col, from Titcomb Basin. The other Ranger was hiking towards Big Sandy Lake from Big Sandy trailhead. So yes, there are rangers out there.
